Digimon: The New Chronicles
by YolkaEd
Summary: Meet Eddy Banners, transfer student in Shibuya, who is about to embark on a journey that he never thought he'd undertake! What wonders awaits him in the world he's flung into? OC Story!
1. Prologue

Being a transfer student wasn't always as awesome as people made it out to be. Sure, it was exciting to be able to see new places, get new friends and experience a totally different culture.

For one Edmund Banners, this was true at first, but being pulled from the States all the way to Shibuya in Tokyo wasn't easy to get used to. Even then, he had only been there for six months, out of a grand total of two years he was supposed to stay there. Not that he complained about that; Japan was amazing, and he had gotten a few very close friends over the months.

That being said, they _did_ have differing interests, to be sure.

"Eddy ~!" Hearing that female voice call for him, the brown-haired eighteen-year old glanced behind him with a mildly surprised look, removing the slightly oversized headphones from his ears, so he wouldn't let the music he was listening to drown out her voice. "I've been looking all over for you, Eddy!"

Forcing a slight smile to spread across his lips, Eddy closed his eyes. "Did you look at the usual spots I hang out at this time around, Sayoko? I'm surprised." he said with a chuckle, as he turned to face the seventeen-year old girl approaching him. "You couldn't get Hime or Kata to join you today?"

"No…" Sayoko muttered with a small frown, as she scratched her head, before pulling her hand through her dark-green, medium-sized hair. "Hime's off practicing with her band, and Kata's got to go to chess club. So apart from you, Eddy, I'm all out of options…" Then, she perked up, clapping her hands together. "But that's alright! Now I can take you out around the city! Maybe we can do something about your hair!"

Eddy reeled back at that comment, moving one hand defensively towards his hair, which was tied up in a long ponytail, which stretched down to below his shoulder blades. "H-hey, I like my hair like this!" he said, as he tilted his head. "Why do you keep dying your hair with that color, anyway? Don't you like being blonde?"

"I like this color better, okay, Eddy?" Sayoko replied, as she folded her arms. "Besides, my hair has nothing to do with your hair!"

"As long as we agree not to cut my hair, I can get behind that philosophy." Eddy replied with a deadpan expression. "So, what do you have planned?"

"Well, I was going to run a few errands for my mother…" Sayoko began, as she pressed a finger against her chin, glancing up at the air. "After that, I've got to check out the new handhelds that came out recently! I've been saving up, and I've got enough for at least two!"

"You sure about that?" Eddy uttered, as he tilted his head. "Aren't cells pretty expensive these days?"

"I'm not talking about telephones, Eddy!" Sayoko said with an annoyed tone. "I mean the new virtual pets! Hime and Kata already have some for themselves!"

"…virtual pets?" Eddy repeated, before he pressed two fingers against his forehead. "Please don't tell me that it's Digimon again… Sayoko, how old _are_ you?"

"Oh, come on, don't be like that!" Sayoko said, as she grabbed hold of Eddy's blue hoodie, pulling him after her down the street. "I've grown up with those shows and toys; I _need _the latest model!"

"Still, it's more for kids than anything else, isn't it?" Eddy countered, not even bothering to resist being pulled by someone younger than him. "I can understand ten-year olds going crazy for the new Digimon collectibles, but you're seventeen… right?"

Hearing that question, Sayoko glanced at Eddy with a glare. "…what was with that question?" she uttered, before shaking her head, continuing to pull Eddy after her. "Alright, just for that, we're cutting your hair!"

In that instant, Eddy immediately began resisting, skidding along the ground to try and stop Sayoko, but to no avail. "Damn it, Sayoko; that's a low blow!"

"That's what you get for insulting me!" Sayoko replied with a huff, still pulling Eddy after her. "Now, I'm going to give you a buzzcut; I think that'd fit you!"

"W-wait!" Eddy pleaded desperately. "I'll do anything! I'll even take one of those Digimon things, if you just leave my hair alone!"

Hearing that, Sayoko stopped, as she glanced at Eddy with a bewildered look. "…you'll…" she uttered, before suddenly grinning maliciously, a mischievous glint appearing in her eyes. "Ooh, you'd even stoop to _that_ level to protect your hair! Taking a product from a show you hate… you are a desperate young man!"

"Hey, I never said that I _hated_ Digimon…" Eddy replied, before sighing. "I've just grown out of it… and what's that about "young man"? I'm older than you, Sayoko!"

"Doesn't matter." Sayoko shrugged, as she walked down the street, Eddy following her. "Now, you'll let me pick out a Digimon for you, right?"

"Yeah, sure…" Eddy muttered, as he rubbed the back of his head. _…man, what kind of mess did I get into this time?_ he thought.

As the two walked through the streets, they passed by someone wearing a black beanie, along with attire that was reminiscent of a punker. While they didn't notice him, the teen glanced at the two, without removing the black shades covering his eyes. Once Eddy and Sayoko were a distance away, he looked away from them, walking the opposite way from them. _…hmph. What a strange pair…_ he thought.

"I'm home!" Entering an apartment in a larger building, Eddy casually took off his shoes, walking into the living room, where a twelve-year old girl was reading the newspaper. "Hey, Lira! Is Hiragiya out at the moment?"

"…mhm." the girl nodded, as she looked up from the paper at Eddy. "She'll be gone the whole week; she has business outside of Tokyo." she said.

"So, it's only you and me, huh?" Eddy mused, as he sat down on a chair, looking at Lira. "…hey, what comics are you reading right now?" he inquired.

"I'm not reading any comics." Lira replied, as she flipped the newspaper so Eddy could see what she was reading. "It says that Mudo Ketsuyaga's gang of punks was arrested yesterday, with the exception of Mudo himself. It happened near my school, so I was curious."

"…really…" Eddy hummed, as he took an apple that was lying in a bowl on the table, taking a good bite out of it. "Well, it's more interesting than what I've been doing today." he said, after swallowing what he had bitten out of the apple. "Sayoko pulled me along to do shopping, and she… got me a gift."

"Sayoko gave you a gift?" Lira uttered, as she looked up at Eddy with a surprised look. "What gift was it? Chocolate? Flowers?"

"Actually…" Eddy said somewhat sheepishly, as he dug into the pocket of his hoodie, before pulling out a small, rectangular object. "…a Digivice."

"Digivice?" Lira uttered with a more befuddled look on her face. "…but I thought you hated Digimon, Eddy…"

"I don't hate it; I've just grown out of it…" Eddy said again, before sighing. "…well, in any case, the guy in this thing is called a… Labramon, I think? I just hope he doesn't end up dying; I'm not that good with virtual pets."

"…I'm sure that you can take care of him, Eddy." Lira said with a smile on her face. "You can take care of the house, so I just know that you can take care of that Labramon." Then, she tilted her head. "So… did Sayoko threaten to cut your hair again?"

"…yeah, she did." Eddy muttered, as he pocketed the Digivice. "How do you figure these sorts of things out?"

"It isn't the first time it's happened, you know…" Lira said with a giggle, before glancing at the newspaper. "…say, do you wanna read?" she asked, as she held the paper up to Eddy.

"Ah… thanks, but no thanks." Eddy said, as he stood up, looking down at Lira. "I've gotta study, you see; exams are coming up, and I don't want to get a low score."

"Oh, I see…" Lira nodded, before smiling. "But you'll have a short vacation first, right? So we can invite Sayoko, Hime and Kata over here, and we can have a sleepover!"

"…aren't I supposed to be the one to figure out something like that?" Eddy replied with a flat tone in his voice, before shaking his head. "In any case, I've gotta go study. Just knock when you want dinner!" he said, before heading into his room.

Once there, he pulled out the Digivice that Sayoko had bought him, taking note of its color scheme; black and white. "…hm. Cute." he mused, as he placed the toy on his working desk. "I'll play with you later… but for now, I have to study." he said, as he pulled out a few books, placing them on the working desk as well, taking care not to accidentally crush the Digivice.

Night soon covered Shibuya, and most of those living there were fast asleep at the moment. In one alleyway, however, there was some life, as a couple of shady characters were in a deep conversation. "…it's ready?" a woman asked, as she folded her arms.

"Indeed." a deep-voiced man replied, as he chuckled. "To think that we could copy data from such a powerful Digimon… it's too bad that we cannot use it to extinguish the whole world."

"Don't worry about that." the woman chuckled, as she cracked her neck in preparation. "Even if it can only encompass Shibuya, we can still mold this place into something new."

"And once it's done…" the man began, before looking up at the sky. "…no one can enter or leave."

"Well? What are we waiting for?" the woman said in an ecstatic tone. "We have to say the name in unison, so it can work!"

"Of course, of course…" the man said, as he and the woman held their hands together. "When this night is done… Shibuya will be recreated into a haven for monsters."

Then, both of the characters looked at each other, whilst they were engulfed by a white aura. "ALL DELETE!" both of them said, as they pressed their hands down on the ground. In that instant, a shockwave erupted from underneath them, expanding all over Shibuya. From outside of that place, one would be able to see a white dome expanding across the special ward, but from within, only the two perpetrators knew of the dome's existence.

When the bright light from the dome seemed to quell itself, however, the two were gone…

The next morning, Eddy rose from his bed as usual, rubbing his eyes. "Man… note to self; don't spend three hours straight on studying before bedtime…" he muttered, as he scratched his neck. "…wonder if Lira's making breakfast, already…"

As he spoke, he slowly turned to stand up from his bed, just as he noticed something; the screen on the Digivice on his desk was blinking. "…hn?" Looking at this with surprise, Eddy cautiously approached it. "…what the hell…?" he uttered, as he slowly picked the device up.

Just as he did that, the device suddenly flashed brightly, and Eddy could see something emerge from the screen, landing on the floor. As it turned out, it was a white, Labrador-ish creature, with its ears, tail and some markings underneath its eyes a light, red color. "Hrm… I thought I'd never get fresh air." it muttered in a female voice, before turning to face Eddy, who was more or less stunned. "…nice to meet you, Edmund Banners. I am Labramon; though you can call me Rah."

"…Labramon?" Eddy uttered, recalling what kind of Digimon was inside of the Digivice Sayoko had gotten him. "…you mean that…" As he slowly realized what this meant, he held a hand against his head in shock. "…oh, boy… this is gonna be a long day…"


	2. The First Battle! Rah's RetriBark!

"So… let me see if I get this straight…" Eddy muttered, as he was sitting on his chair, dressed in his usual attire, that being his blue hoodie and a pair of slacks, his hair tied neatly into a ponytail. "…you're a Digimon, right?" he asked, looking down at the Labramon who called herself Rah, who was looking up at him from the floor.

"That is correct." Rah replied with a nod. "And from now on, I happen to be your partner."

"My partner… right." Eddy muttered, as he rubbed his temples. "And you emerged from the Digivice that Sayoko bought for me… why, again?"

"I wouldn't know." Rah muttered, as she shook her head. "I know that I've wanted to get out of that device for some time… but the circumstances behind my release are alien to me."

"Right, so you're clueless." Eddy muttered, before he closed his eyes, keeping silent for a short while. "…then there's only one logical conclusion." he said, before standing up. "I'm still dreaming. That's the only explanation. Good night, Rah." With that, he immediately plopped down on the bed, shutting his eyes and trying to sleep.

That, however, came to an abrupt halt, when Rah suddenly clamped her teeth around his leg, pulling Eddy right out of his bed. "This is no time for jokes!" she yelled, as Eddy held onto his leg in pain. "I do know that I was released from the Digivice for a reason, and it was not so you can just doze off!"

"OW!" Eddy groaned, as he held his leg in pain. "That really hurt, damn it! Sheesh, is my leg bleeding?" As he looked down at his leg, however, something came over him. "…wait… it hurt? And I'm still awake?" As that realization dawned on him, he looked from Rah to his leg multiple times. "…but… that's just bizarre! Even I know that Digimon aren't supposed to be real! How can you be in my room, then?"

"I don't know…" Rah muttered, as she looked around. "…but for some reason… the atmosphere in this place feels… familiar to the Digital World…"

"How can that be?" Eddy groaned, as he looked at Rah. "This isn't any Digital World; it's Shibuya." After saying that, however, he realized what he had said, before sighing. "Tsch… guess the pain's getting to my head… there shouldn't _be_ a Digital World; it's only fiction."

"Oh, you're in pain?" Rah uttered in a clueless tone, something that caused Eddy to just glare at her. "Well, I can fix that up right away. Cure Liquor!" As she said that, she placed a paw on Eddy's leg, as it was surrounded by a bright glow; surprisingly enough, the pain immediately subsided.

"…whuh?" Eddy uttered, as he looked at Rah with a dumbfounded look. "What… was that?"

"That?" Rah repeated, as she looked at her own paws. "It's one of my special moves, Cure Liqueur. Using that, I can restore and heal other Digimon's data… and I suppose that it works for human injuries as well."

"…so you're a healer, huh…" Eddy mused, before shaking his head, getting up on his feet. "Look… thanks for healing me, but…" As he tried thinking of anything to say, something dawned on him. "…oh, shoot! What time is it? I'm gonna be late for school!"

"…school?" Rah uttered, as she tilted her head. "What's that?"

"Never mind that, you!" Eddy said, as he quickly looked at a digital clock resting by his bed; however, the time it showed was scrambled beyond compare, leaving no sign of what the time could actually be. "Wha- what's going on? It worked just fine last night!"

As Eddy began panicking, Rah kept looking around the room. It wasn't exactly tidy, but it was far from being a complete mess, as a few books and figurines were scattered around the floor. It also looked like it could use a round of vacuuming. _…hm._ she thought, as she glanced towards a window in the room, which showed the sun shining outside. "…it looks like morning outside."

"I could figure that out on my own!" Eddy said, as he walked towards the window. "But if I don't figure out what time it is, I-" As he got to the window, his eyes widened. Outside, most of the buildings were gone, replaced by what appeared to be endless desert, stopped only by some form of barrier that prevented them from seeing any other of Tokyo's special wards in the distance. "…wha… what happened to Shibuya?"

"…I wouldn't know." Rah muttered, as she climbed up to the window so she could properly look outside. "…strange… seeing this definitely reminds me of a Digital World."

"…but… how did this happen?" Eddy uttered, as he looked at Rah. "Shibuya was perfectly fine yesterday! Nothing on the news even _remotely_ hinted that Shibuya was going to be turned into friggin' Sahara!"

"…perhaps we should go out and investigate?" Rah suggested, as she looked up at Eddy.

"…maybe…" Eddy muttered, before turning away. "…but first off, I need to see if Lira's alright." Then, he stormed out of the room, leaving Rah behind.

When he entered the living room, he saw Lira sitting by the table, slowly enjoying an omelet, before she noticed Eddy. "Oh, good morning." she said, as she tilted her head. "What's wrong? You look like you've seen a scary movie."

"…frankly, I think this is worse than a horror movie, Lira…" Eddy uttered, as he glanced at the window behind her. "Have you seen what it looks like outside?"

"…yeah…" Lira nodded, as she looked down at the omelet. "…I think it's scary… but I try not to think about it." Then, she looked up at Eddy. "Besides, it's Sunday, so we can all stay inside, right?"

"I don't think it's going to be that simple." At that point, Rah popped up behind Eddy, looking at Lira. "Somehow, I feel that this place is similar to a Digital World… which means that there might be rogue Digimon wandering outside."

Ignoring Eddy being completely dumbstruck by her appearance, Lira looked at Rah with a surprised look. "…a… Digimon?" she uttered, as she stood up, slowly walking towards Rah. "And… it's a Labramon?" When she got close enough to her, Lira slowly petted Rah on her head. "…and it's real! Eddy, where did you find it?"

"It came out of the Digivice Sayoko gave me…" Eddy muttered, as he looked out the window again. "…wait… one of those buildings out there… maybe one of them is where Sayoko lives!" After saying that, he quickly went towards the front door, quickly slipping his shoes on. "I need to see if she's alright!"

"Eddy, wait!" Lira called, making Eddy quickly glance towards her. "…shouldn't you eat breakfast before you leave?"

"It didn't take a lot of convincing, I have to say…" Rah noted, as she and Eddy were standing right outside the apartment building, Eddy biting into a sandwich he had made before leaving. "Were you _that_ hungry?"

"Hey, when Lira mentioned food…" Eddy muttered, as he glanced down at Rah. "…I just realized that I forgot to eat supper yesterday, and that got me really hungry." As he looked down at the dog-Digimon, he began thinking. "…oh, yeah; don't Digimon usually get hungry as well?"

"…yes." Rah nodded, as she closed her eyes. "But at the moment, I'm not that hungry." Immediately after she said that, someone's stomach growled.

"…either we're being watched by someone who's hungry…" Eddy muttered in a flat tone, still looking at Rah. "…or I think I met the worst liar ever."

"…I may be hungry…" Rah muttered, as she turned her head away from Eddy. "…but not to the point where I'd forsake the opportunity to explore. Besides, weren't we supposed to see if this Sayoko was safe?"

"Point taken." Eddy mused, as he looked around him. Sure enough, just like when he had looked out the windows, most of the buildings were gone, though a few still remained. Where the streets and buildings had used to be, endless desert remained. "…bleak. Did the Digital World look like this in any of the shows?"

"I think a few specific regions were desert-oriented…" Rah mused, as she looked at the area. "Well, let's not remain idle. Where does Sayoko live?"

"She lives north of this building." Eddy noted, as he looked around him. "…though, with how everything's changed, I'm not too sure on where north is supposed to be…" Then, he began heading left. "But first off, I need to check something out."

"…check what out?" Rah inquired, though Eddy didn't answer her. "…hey! Wait up!" she called, quickly following Eddy. "Did you remember to bring the Digivice?"

"Yeah, I got that in my pocket." Eddy replied, without looking at Rah. "Though, I don't really see the purpose behind it. I mean, it's a toy. What can I use it for?"

"Don't ask me; you wouldn't get a viable answer from that." Rah replied, before sighing. "Look, what is so important that you put aside the fact that your friend could be in trouble?"

"Freaky desert or not, I need to make sure that me and Lira won't run out of food." Eddy said, as he glanced at Rah. "So I need to see if the grocery store got taken out along with most of the buildings here. If it is, and the desert doesn't magically disappear soon, we'll have a problem on our hands."

"…is that so…" Rah mused, as she looked up at Eddy. "…well, it shouldn't take too long, right?"

"Nope; if the store's still there, we should be getting close to it." Eddy said, as he looked ahead of him, just as he noticed something in the distance. "…hn?"

Ahead of them, a trio, consisting of what appeared to be goblins, was walking towards them, with two of them carrying bags chockfull of what appeared to be food. All of the goblins had red mohawks, and they wore leather vests, belts and tassets. Also noteworthy were the wooden clubs that hung over their backs, with four bolts stuck around them. "…what're those guys?" Eddy uttered in a puzzled tone.

"Goblimon." Rah muttered, before she sighed. "Hooligans, the lot of them. Ignore them." she said, as the two kept walking, though now, the trio of Goblimon had noticed them.

"Well, what do we have here?" the one Goblimon who wasn't carrying anything said in a bemused tone, as he folded his arms with a smirk on his face. "A cute little doggy and a lanky human! I didn't think there were any humans around in this town!" he said.

"You got that right, boss!" the Goblimon on the right said, as he eyed Rah with a raised eyebrow. "Hey, I think that's a chick, you guys!"

"That doesn't matter!" the Goblimon on the left laughed, as he grinned. "What matters is if they got anything valuable on them!"

"So, human…" the leader of the trio said with a chuckle, before he tilted his head. "…you'd best give us everything ya own, if ya want to get past us in one piece!" However, just after he said that, Eddy and Rah walked right past the three Goblimon, not even casting the three a glance, utterly ignoring the three.

"So, Eddy, is that store close-by?" Rah inquired, before looking up at Eddy.

"Judging by their bags, I'd have to say that it's still around… and we're really close to it." Eddy said, as he looked down at Rah as well. "If we hurry, we might be able to cook you something to eat before we try finding Sayoko."

"HEY!" Hearing the Goblimon leader suddenly call out to them, both Eddy and Rah stopped, as they looked back at the trio of Rookie-Digimon, the leader of the three seething with rage. "You can't just ignore us like that! That's not how it's supposed to work! You're supposed to fight us, and-" At that point, Eddy and Rah proceeded to ignore them again, walking away from them. "HEY! I'M TALKING TO YA, YOU LONG-HAIRED SISSY!"

Hearing that insult thrown his way, Eddy stopped, before slowly glaring at the Goblimon. "…_what_… did you call me?" he uttered with a murderous tone.

"Oh, _now _ya hear me! When I start calling you a sissy!" the leader of the Goblimon said, before grinning victoriously. "Well, if you're not a sissy, then come and beat us up… if ya can!"

"Eddy, don't let them get to you!" Rah protested, as she looked up at Eddy, who still glared at the Goblimon. "They want you to get angry! Just ignore them, and let's move on!"

"…sorry, Rah…" Eddy muttered, as he turned towards the Goblimon, cracking his knuckles, as one could see that he had an annoyed scowl on his face. "…but no one makes fun of my hair and gets away with it."

"Wait, he's pissed about the _hair?_" the Goblimon leader uttered in disbelief. "Is he some kinda moron? Alright, that's it! Get him, boys!"

"You got it, boss!" his two cronies said in tandem, as they dropped their bags, pulling out their clubs, before walking towards Eddy, who was approaching the goblins as well. "What, you're not letting your Digimon fight with you? You gotta be some moron, alright!"

"I don't need anyone else to help me fight my own battles." Eddy said, before he cracked his neck. "And I won't need any help to take down you three chumps."

"We'll see about that!" the Goblimon on the right said, as he held his arm out, while a fireball appeared in his hand. "Goblin Bomb!" he said, before hurling the fireball right at Eddy. However, even as he stepped away from it before it could hit him, he had no idea that when it fell to the ground behind him, it suddenly exploded upon impact.

"…exploding fireballs…" Eddy uttered, before looking towards the Goblimon. "…alright, a long-range fight isn't too smart." he said, before breaking into a run right towards the two of them.

"Eddy, wait!" Rah called, as she watched Eddy run towards the goblins. "It's dangerous! Their Goblin Strikes are far more powerful than their Goblin Bombs!"

"Too late!" the Goblimon on the left laughed, as he ran towards Eddy as well, raising his club. "Goblin Stri-" Before he could swing his club, however, Eddy suddenly aimed a well-placed kick to the goblin's chin, sending the goblin flying.

"Hey, you won't mind if I borrow this, would you?" Eddy said, as he dashed towards the Goblimon before he could hit the ground, yanking his club out of his grip. "Thanks!" he said, before suddenly slamming the club right down on the Goblimon, knocking the air out of him.

"Wha- how did ya do that?" the other Goblimon uttered in shock, just as Eddy glanced towards him. "Tsch… ya think you're tough? Well, you got another thing comin'! Goblin Strike!" he yelled, as he leapt towards Eddy, his club raised high for a strike.

However, Eddy simply moved aside when the Goblimon got in range, causing the goblin to hit the ground instead of Eddy. "Well, how about this? Eddy Strike!" Eddy shouted, as he slammed his club into the Goblimon's back, launching him a good distance, while also forcing him to drop his club.

"…impressive…" Rah uttered, as Eddy picked up the second club as well. "…he's taking care of them so easily…"

"Kkh…" the Goblimon leader hissed, just as Eddy glanced at him. "D-don't think that you've won, just because you disarmed two of us!" he yelled, before pulling out his own club, cracking his neck. "We'll beat you; just you wait and see!"

"Hmph… so far, all you've done is insult my hair, and send your cronies at me." Eddy noted, before pointing one of the clubs he held at the Goblimon. "I'm beginning to doubt that you can fight at all."

Hearing that, the Goblimon gritted his teeth in rage. "The hell is that supposed to mean? I'm the most battle-capable of the three of us!" he said, before stomping the ground in frustration. "And I was insulting _you_, not your hair! What makes you think that I give a crap about your stupid hair, anyway?"

"…did you just call my hair _stupid?_" Eddy shouted, as he glared at the Goblimon with a furious look. "Alright, that's it; you're going to pay for that!" he yelled, before running right towards the Goblimon.

"We'll see about that!" the Goblimon chuckled, before looking at his two partners. "Alright, boys, get him!"

Nodding, the two Goblimon conjured balls of flame in their hands, as they watched Eddy, who was too enraged to even notice them. "Goblin Bomb!" both of them yelled, before they threw the fireballs right towards Eddy.

"Ah- Eddy, watch out behind you!" Rah quickly warned, though Eddy didn't seem to heed her warning; however, when it looked like the fireballs would hit him, Eddy leapt towards the Goblimon leader, leaving the fireballs to slam into each other instead, creating an explosion that propelled Eddy further towards the goblin.

"Wha- HEY!" the Goblimon uttered fearfully, as he watched Eddy fly towards him. "You're not supposed to-" he began, though Eddy was quicker, reaching him and furiously swinging both of the clubs down at the Rookie, sending him flying a sizeable distance away from where he originally stood.

"BOSS!" both of the Goblimon cronies yelled in shock, just as their leader slammed into the ground, and Eddy landed safely on his own feet. "What's with this guy… he's smacking us around like it's nothing!"

"…wow…" Rah uttered, as she tilted her head. "…I don't think I've seen a human who can fight so well against other Digimon before…"

"…this is nothing." Eddy mused, as he swung one of the clubs over his shoulder. "Next time you think about insulting someone's hair… you'd better remember the beating I gave you, alright?"

Hearing that, however, made the Goblimon leader glare at Eddy with a hateful look. "Tsch… bastard…" he spat, as he got up on his feet, clutching the club tightly. "…you think I'll let you walk away, after humiliating me like this? NOT A CHANCE!" As he yelled that, his entire body was surrounded by a majestic glow, as he began growing, his entire body changing structurally.

"Hn?" Eddy blinked with a clueless expression, as he tilted his head. "What's going on with him?"

"…no way…" Rah uttered in surprise. "…a Digivolution… he forced it via his anger…"

"…boss?" both of the Goblimon uttered, as the glow slowly faded away from their leader.

When it faded, there no longer stood a Goblimon there; now, a much taller, horned ogre-like being stood before them, with long, white hair instead of a red mohawk, spikes protruding from his shoulders, and a scar running over his left eye. Instead of a wooden club, he now held a femur club, which he rested on his shoulder. "…heh… looks like the odds are in my favor now, punk." this new Digimon chuckled.

"Ogremon…" Rah uttered, before glancing at Eddy. "Eddy, you need to back up! Compared to Goblimon, Ogremon is a much stronger foe! He'll kill you if he gets the chance!"

"…tsch…" Eddy scoffed, as he cracked his neck. "Just how much stronger could he have gotten?" he said, before running right towards Ogremon, who merely grinned.

"Eddy, you fool! STOP!" Rah yelled, though it was in vain, as Eddy raised the club he held in his left hand, before aiming a swing at Ogremon; however, Ogremon simply grabbed the club with his free hand, completely stopping Eddy.

"…heh. Where'd your strength go, all of a sudden?" Ogremon taunted, as he looked down at Eddy with a maniacal grin, watching the teen helplessly try to pry the club away from Ogremon's grip. "Let me show you what you're up against, punk!" In that instant, Ogremon easily crushed the club in his grip, causing Eddy to stumble forward, before he mercilessly slammed his own bone club into Eddy's back, launching him several feet away, before he landed in the sand.

"EDDY!" Rah yelled at this sight, as she looked at Ogremon, who slowly turned towards Eddy. "Tsch… stop it! Leave him alone!" she shouted.

"It's no use…" one of the Goblimon uttered, as they looked at their leader with huge grins. "Your partner made a fool of the boss… so he's gonna punish him! GO, BOSS! SHOW HIM YOUR NEW STRENGTH!"

"I think I will!" Ogremon laughed, as he held his free hand up, clenching it into a fist, just as a purple aura surrounded it. "Heh… this power is amazing!" he said, before reeling the fist back. "Overlord Fist!" he yelled, before punching at the air, sending a purple blast of energy rocketing towards Eddy, which exploded upon impact, blasting Eddy further away.

"GAH!" Eddy cried, as he was slammed against a building wall, knocking the air out of him, before he fell to the ground. _Kkh… this guy's strong…_ he thought, as he weakly looked up at Ogremon, who slowly approached him with a menacing grin. _I can barely move…_

"Hurts, doesn't it?" Ogremon chuckled, as he stopped right next to Eddy, looking down at him. "You know, you're not half bad when it comes to fightin'…" As he spoke, he picked Eddy up by his head, lifting him up so that the two were staring each other in the eye. "If you hadn't been such a cheeky bastard, I might have let you become my subordinate… but now, I guess you just have to die, right?"

"That's enough!" Rah suddenly yelled, as she quickly dashed from where she stood, passing by both of the Goblimon, not stopping until she was very close to Ogremon, who looked down at her. "He is my partner… I cannot allow you to harm him any longer!"

"Feh… what are you gonna do about it, little Labramon?" Ogremon spat, as he dropped Eddy to the ground, before turning to face Rah. "You're only a Rookie! You and I both know that you got no chance to beat me!"

"…chance or no chance…" Rah growled, as she bared her teeth, still glaring up at the Champion-level. "…I'll fight you, anyway!"

At that point, something in the pocket of Eddy's hoodie began glowing, which caused both him and Ogremon to look down at the light in awe. "…what…?" Eddy uttered, as he weakly reached into his pocket, before pulling out his Digivice, which was the cause of the glow. "…what is…"

"…a Digivice?" Ogremon uttered, before looking down at Rah, just to see that some form of aura began surrounding her as well. "…what in the…"

"Prepare yourself!" Rah yelled, before she began inhaling air. "RetriBark!" she then shouted, before letting out a fierce, intense howl, which created a massive super-sonic wave, slamming right into the Ogremon.

"GUAAAH!" Ogremon yelled in pain, as he tried shielding himself from this massive attack, which kept on going. _What's with that power…?_ he thought, as he was slowly being pushed back. _Is that Digivice giving her this power…?_ "GYAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!" Eventually, the sonic wave became too much, as he was catapulted off the ground, rocketing away several feet before slamming into the ground.

Eddy could only watch Rah in shock, as the glow from his Digivice faded away. "…Rah…?" he uttered, slowly looking from the Digivice to Rah, who seemed as surprised as he did.

"…wow…" Rah uttered, as she looked down at her paws. "…I… didn't expect it to be that potent…" As she said that, she glanced towards Eddy, before suddenly remembering the state he was in. "Ah- hold still!" she said, rushing to her partner's side, before placing a paw on him. "Cure Liquor!" Then, a glow surrounded her paw, and the pain Eddy felt slowly subsided.

"Ugh…" Eddy groaned, before slowly sitting up after Rah removed her paw from him. "…man, that hurt more than I thought it would…" he muttered, before looking at Rah. "…thanks, Rah; you saved me." he said, with a small smile.

"…think nothing of it, Eddy…" Rah muttered, as she looked away from Eddy. "…just don't act so recklessly again."

"…right… I won't." Eddy nodded, as he placed a hand on Rah's head. "Promise."

"…I'll hold you to it." Rah said, as she smiled as well, before she glanced towards where Ogremon had been launched; he was still lying on the ground, knocked out.

"…they… they beat the boss!" the two Goblimon uttered in fear, which made Eddy and Rah look towards them. "…RUN AWAY!" In that instant, both of them ran away as quickly as they could.

"…ungh…" Hearing Ogremon groan, Eddy and Rah glanced in his direction, only to see him sit up, holding his head. "…man, that's strong…"

"…still not down, huh…" Eddy uttered, as he got on his feet, before looking at Rah. "Do you think he needs another round, Rah?"

"Wait!" Ogremon called, as he got on his feet, before looking at Eddy and Rah. "That… was the most brutal beating I've ever gotten in my life! You guys are hardcore!" he said, as he approached the duo. "Hey, listen… I know that we might have gotten off on a bad start, but if you'd permit it… we can be buddies, right?"

"B-buddies?" Eddy uttered in surprise. "That's a complete 180! Weren't you going to kill me just a minute ago?"

"Well, yeah…" Ogremon said, as he scratched his head. "…but you guys are a killer duo! I gotta respect people with that kind of strength! And as a token of our newfound friendship…" Then, he pointed right at the bags his cronies had dropped before the fight had even erupted. "…I'll let you have those!"

"…but…" Eddy began, as he looked from the bags to Ogremon, a bewildered look on his face. "…but it makes no sense! You tried to kill me, and all of a sudden, we're friends? You can't just-"

"Thank you; we truly appreciate the offer." Rah butted in, as she looked up at Ogremon. "And with the area in the state that it is, we'd be grateful for any help we can get." she added, whilst Eddy looked down at her with a stunned look.

"Really? Aw, you guys are the best!" Ogremon laughed, as he folded his arms. "If there's anything you need, let me know!"

Blinking, Eddy held his head with a defeated expression. "Sheesh… well, if you insist, I guess you could help us out…" As he said those words, however, his Digivice began glowing again, much to the surprise of all three of them. "Hn?" Seeing that, Eddy looked at his Digivice, just as it shot a small beam at Ogremon; however, it didn't hurt him, but it seemed to be scanning him.

"What's with the lightshow?" Ogremon uttered, just as the beam disappeared. Then, on the screen of the Digivice, they could see that next to a pixilated version of Rah, a pixilated version of Ogremon had appeared.

"…what on earth…" Rah uttered, as she and Ogremon looked at the screen with a dumbfounded expression on both of their faces. "…did it scan his data…?"

"…don't ask me; I'm still clueless as to what I can do with this." Eddy admitted, before he pocketed the Digivice. "Maybe Sayoko knows more about this than me…" Saying her name, however, Eddy got an idea, as he looked up at Ogremon. "Say, have you seen a girl called Sayoko around here? She has dark-green hair, and…"

"…can't say that I have." Ogremon said with a shrug. "But hey, I'm sure that you can find that Sayoko-chick somewhere."

"…thanks…" Eddy muttered, as he closed his eyes. _…are you even in Shibuya right now, Sayoko…?_ he thought, before looking up at Ogremon. "…oh, yeah; what should we call you? I think it'd be easier to call you something other than Ogremon all the time."

"Eh? What you should call me?" Ogremon uttered, as he rubbed his chin. "…well, I haven't been called anything but boss by my cronies… so you could call me Boss! Not as your boss, but as a name!"

"…Boss, eh?" Eddy mused, before rubbing his chin. "…well, as long as you don't start ordering us around, I suppose it works."

"I agree." Rah nodded, before looking up at Boss. "It's nice to make your acquaintance, Boss… former circumstances aside."

"Ah, don't mention it!" Boss laughed, as he folded his arms with a grin on his face. "Glad to be of help!"

"Speaking of help…" Eddy began, as he glanced at the bags. "…there's an apartment building not too far behind you. I want you to take those bags to a door which reads 3-F. Leave them outside, and knock on the door; someone will take them inside that room. But… you probably shouldn't let her see you; you could scare her."

"Gotcha! 3-F, here I come!" Boss said, as he approached the bags, picking them up, before running towards where Eddy and Rah originally came from.

"…huh… didn't think that he'd be that good of a guy." Eddy mused, as he and Rah watched Boss head off. "But I have to wonder… what was with that beam scanning him?" he hummed, before he picked up the club that Boss hadn't smashed during their brief battle.

"We'll probably figure that out later." Rah noted, as she turned around. "Right now, don't we have a store to go to?"

"…actually, those bags showed me that the store's still there." Eddy said, as he rested the club on his right shoulder. "So that gives us more time to look for Sayoko. Let's go!" Then, he began walking off.

"…alright…" Rah nodded, as she began following Eddy, when she turned her head to the side. _…hmm… is there someone there?_ she thought, though nothing seemed to be there. _…must have been my imagination…_ With that, she proceeded to run after Eddy.

"Man, I can't believe that our boss was beaten…" one of the Goblimon uttered, as the two cronies walked through an alley. "That Labramon really packed a punch, didn't she?" he said, as he glanced at his partner.

"You said it…" the other Goblimon uttered, before shuddering. "But that partner of hers… he was a beast! I mean, he managed to smack us around until our boss Digivolved! How many other humans do you know who could do that?"

"A human, you say?" they heard a deep-voiced man chuckle, making the two Goblimon look ahead of them. "How interesting… care to tell us more?"

"We'd be delighted to hear of what you know about this human…" they then heard a female say, making them look behind them in fear. "…but killing you and taking your data sounds like a much more thrilling experience… wouldn't you agree?"

The two Goblimon were absolutely terrified, as they looked from the man to the woman. "…M-Myotismon! LadyDevimon!" both of them managed to yell out, just as two large swarms of bats suddenly engulfed both of them. Before long, the bats flew away, and both the Goblimon were gone; wiped out of existence…


	3. DigiImprint! Enter Sangloupmon!

Ten minutes before Shibuya was encompassed by the massive white dome, sitting on a bench by the statue of Hachiko, was a teen wearing a black beanie, punk attire, and a pair of black shades, whilst reading a newspaper. The article he was currently reading was about the arrest of Mudo Ketsuyaga's punk gang, save for their leader, who was missing when the arrest took place. _…hmph. They'll print anything, these days…_ he thought.

"…excuse me…" Hearing that voice, the teen looked to where it came from, where he saw something completely unexpected; a blond man wearing a purple helmet with a cross in front that covered his eyes, along with a completely white set of Shinto priest clothes. The most peculiar thing about him, however, was the two large wings on his back. "…but do you happen to own a Digivice?"

"…nice cosplay." the teen replied impassively, before looking back at the newspaper. "Can't say that I own anything like that, though; it's more for kids, isn't it?"

"…cosplay?" the priest uttered, as he looked around him. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh, come on; like anyone isn't going to draw that conclusion." the teen uttered without looking at the priest. "You shouldn't walk around while dressed like that, though; you could get mugged."

"…listen, I don't have time for idle chatter; this place probably won't be around for much longer." the priest said, as he walked towards the teen. "You need to come with me."

"…isn't going to be around for…" the teen uttered, as he glanced at the priest. "What kind of bullshit are you spouting? Is this about some pseudo-religion you're fanatic about?"

"Boy, you are trying my patience…" the priest uttered, as he kept himself composed. "Listen; two rogue Digimon are going to reformat this entire place. Unless you own a Digivice, you need to come with me."

"Quit your bitching, already!" the teen suddenly snapped, as he stood up from the bench, glaring at the priest. "What's this about Digimon and Digivices? Everyone in Japan knows that it's nothing but fiction! So unless you start making some goddamn sense, I'm-" In that instant, someone slammed a fist right on top of the teen's head, knocking him out instantly.

"…IceLeomon…" the priest uttered, as he let out a sigh of disbelief. "…you didn't need to go that far." The one he was addressing was a man with skin as white as snow, only his head was that of a lion's; his attire consisted of black pants, belts wrapped around his left arm, and a sword hanging from the back of his waist.

"My apologies, MagnaAngemon…" IceLeomon uttered, as he picked up the teen, holding him over his shoulder. "…but this will work better than trying to persuade him, especially since we do not know where those two are hiding. We need to fill him in when we get back to the Digital World."

"Hopefully, he'll see things our way…" MagnaAngemon muttered, before he drew a sword out from his robes, which he slashed at thin air, creating a rift that led to someplace completely different. "Sadly, we won't be able to stop them before they put Omnimon X's data to good use… we need to deal with the problem later." Then, he and IceLeomon disappeared into the rift, as it closed behind them…

After defeating the Ogremon called Boss, and in turn gaining a new companion in this strange, deserted place that used to be Shibuya, Eddy and Rah were still in search of Sayoko, venturing through the sandy remains of what could have been a street.

However, one more obstacle shoved itself in their way…

"Maybe we should have let Boss give us some of that food before he went to hand it to Lira…" Eddy muttered, as he held his stomach, just as it, along with Rah's stomach, let out a growl. "My sandwich wasn't enough…"

"We need to find someplace where we can find something edible…" Rah moaned, as she kept her eyes closed. "If we run into another hostile Digimon, neither of us will have any strength to fight it…"

"But… we have to try, at least." Eddy noted, as he swung the club he had taken from one of the Goblimon who followed Boss around. "If we lose, we won't be able to find Sayoko…" As he muttered that, something dawned on him. "…oh, shoot! I've been so worried about Sayoko that I completely forgot about Hime and Kata!"

"More friends of yours?" Rah inquired, as she looked up at Eddy. "Well… we should look for all three of them. Just point them out if we happen to encounter them…"

"Sure…" Eddy nodded, as he rested the club on his shoulder. "Hrm… I should probably make some kind of strap for the club, so I can hang it on my back." he mused, as he looked at the club.

"Maybe Lira could help you with that?" Rah suggested, as she looked ahead of them, when she spotted something. "…what's that?"

"Hm?" Blinking, Eddy looked to where Rah was looking, as he spotted one stylish-looking building, with a few vending machines placed around the entrance. "…ah, that's where Hime's band holds their rehearsals!" he said, before running towards the building, with Rah quickly following him.

Once they got there, they stopped by one of the vending machines, which contained a variety of chocolates. "Alright… let's see if I brought some yen with me, and I'll get us something good…" he muttered, as he began rummaging through his pockets.

"How do these things work?" Rah inquired, as she glanced at Eddy with a curious look in her eyes.

"Well…" Eddy began, as he still kept looking for any loose change in his pockets. "…you put in yen, and you pick what food you want, from what's available. Pretty nifty, if you have enough cash…" Then, he pulled his hands out from his pockets. "…which I don't have."

"Ah, let me!" they heard a female voice say, as someone pushed Eddy aside, before putting in some yen into the vending machine. "What would you like?"

"…Hime!" Eddy uttered in surprise, as he looked at the woman who had pushed him aside; she had long, blonde hair that went far down her back, and she wore a pair of jeans and a red T-shirt. Also of note was her… well-developed physique. "Man, what a coincidence! Me and Rah were just looking for you!"

"…you and who?" Hime uttered, as she glanced from Eddy to Rah, who simply tilted her head once Hime looked down at her. "…ah, a Digimon! I'm not the only one with one as a partner, it seems!" she chuckled, before looking at Eddy. "But I thought that you hated Digimon, Eddy?"

"I do _not_ hate it; I just grew out of it." Eddy responded, just as he realized what Hime had said just a few moments ago. "…wait… you have a Digimon partner, too?"

"…yes…" they heard another female voice utter shyly, as the three looked towards where the voice came from; as it turned out, it came from a small, dark-brown koala with an oversized nose, with a pair of tiny horns jutting out of her head, along with a pair of red wings, and a red line going across both her eyes. "…I'm Chi… nice to meet you…"

"A Phascomon…" Rah mused, as she looked up at Hime. "How long have you been partners?"

"Since I woke up." Hime replied, as she looked at Chi with a smile. "Isn't she the cutest thing? If she were a teddy bear, I'd be hugging her right now!"

"…really?" Chi uttered shyly, as she looked away from Hime. "…thank you…"

"…oh, yeah, Hime; I need to ask you…" Eddy began, as he looked back at Hime. "Have you seen Sayoko or Kata around here?"

"…sorry, Eddy; can't say that I have." Hime responded, before pointing towards the building. "We can take this inside; there's other monsters lurking around that aren't as cute. But first…" Then, she turned towards the vending machine. "…what kind of chocolate do you want?"

"…and after he went to get the groceries to Lira, we walked and eventually wound up here." Inside the building, Eddy, Rah, Hime and Chi all sat around a table, Eddy and Rah munching on some chocolate bars, with Hime and Chi watching them with interest.

"Hah, is that right…" Hime mused, as she tilted her head. "I didn't think that you'd be able to handle three Goblimon on your own, though, Eddy…"

"Believe me; I was surprised as well." Rah chuckled, as she took another bite out of the chocolate. "Mhm… this is delicious!"

"But about that beam that scanned Boss…" Eddy muttered, as he took out his Digivice, before showing it to Hime. "Since you and Kata already got this new model, maybe you can tell me what it was about?"

"…what, didn't you read the manual for the Digivice when Sayoko bought it for you?" Hime inquired, as she took the Digivice, before inspecting it.

"Well, she took it before I could read it; said something about collector's value…" Eddy muttered, as he watched Hime tinker with the Digivice. "…what are you doing?"

"I'm checking something; hold on…" Hime uttered, just as a light shone from the Digivice's screen. "Yes! It works just like mine!"

"…yeah, I guess that's nice…" Eddy began, as he looked at Hime with an annoyed expression. "…but _how_ does it work? I'm no Digimon prodigy, so give me something to work with!"

"…alright, listen…" Hime began, as she showed the screen to Eddy, revealing the pixilated versions of Rah and Boss. "It's a very nifty system; you can use a special sensor to scan Digimon card info into the Digivice, and it'll be uploaded to the server as data." As she spoke, she took out her own Digivice; a purple color, in contrast to Eddy's black and white color scheme. "I can show you what data I got on my Digivice, for comparison's sake."

Then, her screen flashed on, and along with a pixilated Chi, it showed three more pixilated Digimon; namely Gabumon, Terriermon and Lalamon. "Admittedly, I had too much fun playing with what I had scanned (plus that band practice got in the way), so I couldn't get more data in on the Digivice before I went to bed." she continued, before she made sure that Eddy was still paying attention. "Now, this screen? It's touch-sensitive." To illustrate her point, she pressed the pixilated Chi on the screen, highlighting her.

"Ah…" the actual Chi uttered, as she slowly had a glow surround her. "Are… are you going to show them…"

"Yep." Hime nodded, as she pressed the pixel-Terriermon, which allowed a small menu to pop up, with several named options listed, Terriermon included. "Now, this Digivice's main gimmick is 'imprinting'. Imprinting is kind of like Digi-Modifying, only you don't have to pull a card through your Digivice every time you want to modify your Digimon."

"…so, what's with all the options?" Eddy mused, as he watched the screen with interest. "Terriermon… Gargomon… Rapidmon… MegaGargomon… that's the whole Terriermon family, right?"

"Yep." Hime nodded again. "The cool thing about it is that if you scan one kind of Digimon, you basically unlock its entire evolutionary line… well, at least the normal one for that Digimon." Then, she pressed her finger on the Gargomon option, before aiming the Digivice at Chi. "Alright, here's imprinting in action!"

At that point, a beam, much like the one that had scanned Boss earlier, shot out from the Digivice, hitting Chi dead-on. Then, Chi's arms actually began changing shape, turning into gatling gun-arms. "…wow…" Rah uttered at this sight, which caused her to drop her chocolate bar. "…imprinting can do that?"

"It doesn't last too long; but it can give your partner a boost when it really needs it." Hime chuckled, as she pressed the screen once, which made the gun-arms turn into Chi's regular arms. "There's also another cool feature about these; data exchange." Then, she pointed both hers and Eddy's Digivices against each other, letting a beam shoot from both of them, the beams colliding. After a short while, they disappeared, and Hime gave the black and white Digivice back to Eddy. "Check it out."

Blinking, Eddy looked at the Digivice, and to his surprise, along with Rah and Boss, he now had pixilated versions of Chi, Gabumon, Terriermon and Lalamon on the screen as well. "…neat." Eddy mused. "So if I use imprinting, I can give Rah new moves on the fly?"

"It really adds a whole new layer when it comes to competitive fighting, doesn't it?" Hime noted, before chuckling. "Of course, I wouldn't expect you to be into competitive Digimon battles."

"Well, I can't say that I have time for that just yet…" Eddy hummed, as he looked at the Digivice with a thoughtful look. "I still need to find Sayoko and Kata… and after that, find out what on earth happened to Shibuya."

"…now that you mention it…" Hime muttered, before sighing. "…this whole desert-scenario is giving me the creeps. I haven't been able to find anyone from the band; only more hostile Digimon. Of course, Chi helped to protect me!"

"…it… was nothing…" Chi muttered shyly.

"…pardon me, but did I hear actual humans?" Hearing that male voice, the group glanced towards the entrance, where they could see a man closing the door. He wore a red face-mask over his eyes, and for the most part wore nobleman's clothes. "I have to apologize for this rude intrusion, but I had to seek shelter somewhere."

"…well, don't apologize; come on over and sit down!" Hime called, as she motioned for the man to approach them, which he did. "It's nice to see another human here. I'm Himemiya Kidoriya, or Hime for short."

"…a pleasure to meet you, Hime." the man said, as he humbly bowed, before glancing at Eddy. "…your name?"

"…Edmund Banners; transfer student." Eddy said bluntly, as he gave the man a nod. "Call me Eddy; everyone else does that."

"Ah… Eddy…" the man uttered, before placing a hand against his own chest. "Well… my name is Kizoku. As I've said, it's a pleasure to meet you." As he spoke, he noticed Rah and Chi, both of them looking warily at him. "…more Digimon… so, they are your partners?"

"…yeah." Eddy nodded. "Rah, the Labramon, that is, is my partner. Hime's partner is Chi; the Phascomon."

"…indeed…" Kizoku hummed, as he folded his arms. "…well, you two must be lucky to have Digimon partners; I do not own one for myself."

"…well, you _are_ an adult." Eddy noted dryly. "I think you're a tad bit too old to still be into Digimon."

"What, and you two aren't?" Kizoku presumed with a chuckle.

"Oh, don't listen to Eddy; if you're a fan of Digimon, it doesn't matter what age you are!" Hime shot in with a smile.

"…yeah, you keep telling yourself that…" Eddy muttered, before he glanced at Rah, who was still looking at Kizoku with a doubtful look. "…Rah? You okay?"

"…Mr. Kizoku." Rah began, as she raised an eyebrow. "Just where do you come from?"

"Me?" Kizoku said, before chuckling. "I'm from Adachi; I'm simply spending some time in Shibuya with my sister… but unfortunately, I can't seem to find her anywhere, with the condition that has befallen this place."

"…is that so…" Rah noted. "…very well; I suppose I'll take your word for it."

"We happen to be looking for someone as well." Eddy said, as he looked at Kizoku. "Maybe we can help you find your sister, while we're at it?"

"What happened to finding Sayoko and Kata?" Hime inquired, as she looked at Eddy with a raised eyebrow.

"Hey, we need to be able to help others, right?" Eddy replied with a shrug, before looking back at Kizoku. "Maybe you could describe what your sister looks like?"

All of a sudden, they heard a shriek from outside the building, before the door suddenly blasted right off its hinges, due to a massive burst of wind. "What was that?" Chi yelled in fright, as she hid behind Hime.

"…it must be a hostile Digimon." Rah uttered, as she glanced at Eddy. "Let's take care of it, before it decides to invade the building itself.

"…right." Eddy nodded, before glancing at Hime. "Hey, can you show Kizoku the back-door, while we hold off the Digimon?" he said, before he and Rah quickly went towards the entrance, out of the hole where the door had used to be.

"…right, Kizoku, just follow me." Hime said, as she stood up, before walking towards the left end of a stage within the building, where a door marked EXIT stood. "Right through here."

"I see. Thank you, madam." Kizoku nodded, as he approached the door, but not before glancing outside for a short moment. Then, he quickly exited through the door.

"…what about us, Hime?" Chi asked, as she looked at Hime. "…should we leave, too?" However, Hime didn't answer her, as she glanced towards the exit, where she could see Eddy and Rah getting ready for a fight.

"…so, Rah… what Digimon is that?" Eddy inquired, as he was holding his club at the ready, glaring at the Digimon that had attacked the building. The Digimon's upper body was that of a woman's, wearing plate armor over her chest, and a mask that was shaped like an actual face, whilst hiding her actual face. She also wore a pilot's hat made from metal, with a pair of feathers sticking out on both sides of her head, and she wore a red undershirt underneath the armor. Also of note were her arms, which were a pair of white and gold wings, matching her tail; this also made attention of her lower half, which was that of a bird's, with white-feathered legs, and black and white talons with red claws.

"…Harpymon." Rah responded, as she looked at this Digimon with a snarl. "An Armor-leveled Digimon, doubling as a Champion-level. She's on par with Boss in terms of strength; possibly stronger."

"…so, you are the source of the evil energy I detected?" Harpymon uttered, as she glared at Eddy and Rah. "It's a good thing that you decided to come out, instead of forcing me to tear down the building myself!"

"…evil energy?" Eddy uttered in a clueless tone. "What are you talking about?"

"Do not deny it!" Harpymon shrieked, as she flapped her wings furiously. "Wind Seeker!" As she flapped her wings, her feathers detached themselves from them, before rocketing right at Eddy, carried by an intense gust of wind. Without having any real room to evade the incoming projectiles, some of the feathers jabbed themselves into Eddy, knocking him right into the side of the building.

"Eddy!" Rah cried upon seeing this, as Eddy slowly slid down to the ground, gritting his teeth. "Are you alright?"

"…yeah…" Eddy muttered, as he slowly got up. "…just knocked the air out of me… she lacks the power that Boss had behind his attacks."

"…you are correct. My true strength lies not in sheer power." Harpymon said, as she took to the sky, looking down at Eddy, who had resumed his battle-stance, holding his club ready. "…it lies in my speed." Then, she dove down towards Eddy, aiming to grab him in her talons.

"RetriBark!" All of a sudden, Rah let out a howl that emitted a powerful sonic wave, knocking Harpymon off course, saving Eddy; however, it wasn't enough to defeat her. "…hm. It worked much better on Boss than it did on her…"

"…maybe because then, I was in mortal danger?" Eddy mused, as he looked up at Harpymon, who glared down at Rah. "…tsch, I can't reach her from this distance. Rah, let's try that imprinting thing, and see if we can't take her down!"

"Right! I'll keep her busy!" Rah nodded, as she ran a bit away from the building, still looking up at Harpymon. "RetriBark!" she called again, unleashing another sonic howl at Harpymon; however, the Armor-level easily evaded the attack by flying around it.

"Do you honestly think that a Rookie can best me?" Harpymon scoffed, as she began flapping her wings furiously again. "Wind Seeker!" she called, sending a burst of wind carrying some of her feathers down at Rah, who quickly leapt away from the attack.

"Alright, let's see here…" Eddy uttered, as he took out his Digivice, pressing the screen a few times to get to the option he wanted. "Yes, that should do it!" he said, before looking back at Rah and Harpymon's fight, which was turning into a constant exchange of sonic blasts and bursts of wind. "Get ready, Rah!" Eddy called, before aiming his Digivice at Rah. "Digi-Imprint! Data: Garurumon!" After saying that, a beam shot out from the Digivice, hitting Rah immediately.

"Wind Seeker!" Harpymon cried in that instant, as a volley of feathers were shot down at Rah with an intense surge of wind; however, instead of embedding themselves into her body, like they had done with Eddy, the feathers simply bounced off. "…what?"

As it turned out, Rah's fur, instead of simply being white now, had gotten some blue stripes all over it now, much like a Garurumon's fur. "…hard as Mithril…" Rah mused, as she looked up at Harpymon with a smirk. "…this imprinting may come in handy, after all. Fox Fire!" Without letting up for a second, Rah opened her mouth, as a massive stream of blue fire shot from her mouth, rocketing at Harpymon.

"What?" Not having expected that attack from a Labramon, the blue flames struck Harpymon like a rocket, exploding on impact, enough to send the Armor-level careening towards the ground.

"Yes! It worked!" Eddy cheered, as he glanced at Rah, whose fur was slowly changing to normal. "…seems like it only lasts long enough for the user to use one attack from the Digimon-data they were imprinted with. Better keep that in mind."

"…but I have to ask…" Rah uttered, as she glanced at Eddy with a raised eyebrow. "…Digi-Imprint? Did you just come up with that off the top of your head?"

"…well…" Eddy muttered, as he scratched the back of his head. "…I figured that it would seem kind of boring to just aim it at you and let the beam do the rest… so I said the first thing that came to mind." After saying that, he looked away. _…man… I think I'm actually getting into this! But then again… real Digimon fighting us may have something to do with that._

"OW! That really hurt!" Hearing Harpymon cry that, both Eddy and Rah looked up towards the sky, where Harpymon still was flying, although her wings were a bit singed. "How did you manage to use a Garurumon's attack, anyway?"

"…wait… you're still not defeated?" Eddy uttered, as he tilted his head. "I could've sworn that the Fox Fire would've sealed the deal."

"Do you two not get it?" Harpymon scoffed, as she glared at Rah. "Even if you have a Digimon use an attack from a Mega-level…" Then, she shot down at Rah, readying her talons for a strike. "…if it comes from a Rookie, it's still only as strong as the Rookie is!" Before Rah could even hope to evade, Harpymon grabbed the Rookie with her talons, lifting her up into the air.

"RAH!" Eddy shouted, as he looked from Rah to the Digivice. "…I need to imprint again!" he said, quickly scrolling through the options he had, before aiming the Digivice at Rah. "Digi-Modify! Data: Lilamon!" he shouted, as another beam shot out towards Rah.

However, Harpymon was quicker, moving herself out of the range of the beam, which made it miss Rah completely. "If you think I'll let you try something smart again, you've got another thing coming!" she cried, as she flew circles in the air, making it too tough for Eddy to properly aim for Rah.

"…tsch…" Eddy hissed, as he closed his eyes. "Rah! Try that RetriBark on her! You've got a clean shot!"

"I can't, Eddy!" Rah called back, as she looked up at Harpymon. "If I hit her, she's going to drop me! Even with the sand dampening the fall… I'll be too crippled to properly fight her!"

"…but…" Eddy uttered, as he looked up at Rah and Harpymon again. "…can't you just use your Cure Liquor on yourself?"

"…I can only use that move on others, not myself!" Rah cried again, as closed her eyes.

"Hah! Do you see that you're outmatched?" Harpymon laughed, as she glanced at Eddy. "With your Digimon in my grasp, you have no proper way of fighting me! Now, I can take my time and finish you nice and-"

"Digi-Imprint! Data: Rapidmon!" In that instant, from the roof of the building, something shot towards Harpymon with speed so intense, that one could only see a green and brown blur shoot towards the Armor-level. Then, in less than a second, Rah was snatched away from Harpymon's grasp.

"…what?" Harpymon uttered in shock, as she saw who had grabbed Rah. As it turned out, it was Chi, only her small, red wings had turned into large, green, metallic wings with red points at the end. "A Phascomon?"

"…Chi?" Eddy uttered in surprise, before he looked towards the roof of the building. "…that means… Hime?"

"You didn't think that I'd let you fight alone, right, Eddy?" Hime chuckled, as she was standing on the roof, holding a cordless microphone in her right hand, and her Digivice in her left. "Stand back; me and Chi can take this chick!" she said, just as Chi flew towards Eddy, dropping Hime right next to him. Then, she flew up to the roof next to Hime, just as her wings returned to normal.

"…you…" Harpymon uttered with a venomous tone. "…you little…" Then, she began flapping her wings even more intensely than ever before. "WIND SEEKER!" she screamed, as a massive gust of wind blasted towards Hime and Chi.

"AGH!" While the wind blast struck them dead-on, all it did was push Hime and Chi a bit backwards, not completely blowing them away. "…what? That's all you have?" Hime chuckled, before bringing the microphone to her lips. "Come on! Show me what you really got!"

"…arrogant bitch!" Harpymon shrieked, as she shot right for Hime, and though one couldn't see it, her eyes were currently ablaze with rage.

"That's more like it!" Hime laughed, as she pressed a button on the microphone, which released a long cord from the bottom of it. Then, as Harpymon got closer, she began swinging the microphone around, the cord lashing about like a whip. "Try hitting me if you can!"

With a shriek, Harpymon was about to grab Hime by her shoulders, though Hime was quicker, leaping away from the harpy, before swinging the microphone cord at Harpymon's legs, the cord binding them together. "Here we go!" she laughed, as she ran after Harpymon, before she was lifted off the ground, Harpymon unwillingly carrying her.

"…Eddy…" Rah uttered in awe, as she looked at this with a stunned expression. "…what is she doing?"

"…you're telling me…" Eddy replied, as he tilted his head. "…but she's using a microphone cord as a whip…" Then, he suddenly gave Hime a thumbs-up. "That earns her a lot of points!"

"Since when did this become a competition?" Rah said in exasperation, before looking back up at the two. "…but what is she planning?"

"Argh! Let go of me, you damn human!" Harpymon shrieked, as she looked down at Hime, who was hanging onto the microphone for dear life, though she was still smirking.

"Not a chance! I have you right where I want you!" Hime chuckled, before glancing at Chi. "Ready, Chi? Prepare for Digivolution!" she called, as she held up her Digivice, aiming the screen at Chi, just as it, along with Chi, began glowing.

"Phascomon, Digivolve to…" Chi called, as her entire body-mass began changing, much like how Boss' body had changed when he Digivolved. When her body stopped changing itself, the glow faded away, revealing a wolf in the koala's place. The wolf had purple fur adorning most of her body, with red markings scattered across her body. Around the front half of her body, extra thick, grey fur was visible, and a purple, wing-like guard-piece was stretching around her neck, and shielding her eyes was a spiked, purple guard-piece. Also of note were her feet; all four of them covered in bladed greaves. "…Sangloupmon!"

"Wha- she Digivolved!" Eddy uttered in surprise, as he got a good look at this wolf-like creature Chi had turned into.

"And that's not a Phascomon's natural Digivolution, either!" Rah noted. "Phascomon usually Digivolve into Porkyupamon, not Sangloupmon!"

"Alright, Chi, get ready for another boost!" Hime called, as she pressed the screen of her Digivice with her thumb, before aiming it at Chi. "Digi-Imprint! Data: MetalGarurumon!" she called, as a beam shot from the Digivice, hitting Chi dead-on.

Then, along the wolf's back, two yellow, wing-like appendages shot out, just as beams of some form erupted from them. Growling, Chi leapt off the building, the beam-wings allowing her to fly towards Harpymon and Hime, just as blue energy began building up in her mouth. "…here it comes! Metal Wolf Claw!" Chi shrieked, before unleashing a massive, blue beam from her mouth that rocketed right towards Harpymon.

With Hime providing too much weight for Harpymon to accurately dodge, the beam blasted against the Armor-level, as she let out a shriek, before she began falling. "This would be my exit-cue!" Hime chuckled, as she unfurled the cord around Harpymon's legs, letting her fall down just as Chi passed by underneath her, leaving Hime to land safely on the wolf's back. "Take us down!"

"…okay." Chi nodded, as she swooped down to the ground, landing safely before her wings faded away. Once she landed, so did Harpymon, who crashed right into the sand after having been blasted with such a strong attack. "…did I do well, Hime?" she asked, as she looked up at her partner.

"Not just well, Chi…" Hime began, as she rubbed Chi's head with a smile. "…you did great!"

"…woah." Eddy uttered, as he and Rah could only look at the two. "…you saw that too, right, Rah?"

"…I certainly did." Rah nodded, as she couldn't tear her eyes from Hime and Chi. "…it was a reckless plan, but they managed to pull through."

"Ungh…" Harpymon groaned, as she slowly got on her feet, albeit weakly, whilst she glared at Hime and Chi. "…don't tell me… the evil energy… it came from you?" she managed to utter.

"…evil energy?" Hime inquired, as she tilted her head. "What are you talking about?"

"She said the same thing to me and Rah." Eddy noted, as he and Rah approached the three. "Though why she came to that conclusion, I don't know."

"…I…" Harpymon uttered, as she looked down at the ground. "…I sensed something sinister within the building… and when you came out, I thought that you were the source of it."

"…sorry to disappoint you, but I wouldn't consider any of us evil." Eddy shrugged, as he glanced down at Rah. "Maybe you should heal her."

"…yeah." Rah nodded, as she approached Harpymon, before placing her hand on the Armor-level's leg. "Cure Liquor!" she said, as her hand was surrounded by a glow, before slowly, the pain faded from Harpymon's body.

"…aah…" Harpymon uttered, as she looked at her wings. "…but… if you weren't the source of that evil energy… then who was it?"

"…wait a minute…" Chi uttered, as she looked back at the building. "…you don't think… Kizoku was the source?"

"…hrm…" Rah hummed, as she looked at the building as well. "…whether he was or not… he's gone, now."

"…but why would someone like him emit evil energy, to the point where Harpymon could sense it?" Hime uttered, as she glanced at Eddy with a puzzled look.

"…I'm not sure…" Eddy muttered, as he folded his arms. "…but somehow… I get the feeling that finding Sayoko and Kata will be the least of our worries in the end…"


	4. Fierce Strategy! Soaring Devidramon!

Far, far to the east of the desert area that currently was Shibuya, a small rift appeared by the ground, which someone leapt out of before it closed itself. Though he was cloaked, one could tell that he wasn't one you'd want to associate yourself with, given the large, golden scythe protruding from where his right arm was supposed to be. "…this is supposed to be the place he was sent to?" this stranger uttered, as he glanced around him, a pair of red jewels scanning the wasteland from underneath the hood covering his face.

"…feh… figures that he'd skimp out on our business the first chance he got…" the stranger scoffed, as he folded his arms. "And that new partner of mine is impossible to work with, too… if I have to drag him back to the Digital World, I swear…" Then, he glanced at the scythe-blade, before sighing. "…well, might as well have fun while doing it." Then, leaping high into the air, the stranger slashed the scythe at the air, creating a massive rift in thin air. "Come out, Deltamon!"

As he said that, a loud roar rung through the air, as a massive monster stepped out from the rift, towering over the cloaked person. This creature, whose head sort of resembled that of a shark, was dark-blue, with his stomach and the tip of his nose colored white. Its most distinguishing features were its arms; more specifically, the two massive heads that made up its arms, as its right hand was a massive, mechanical head, while its left hand was a skeletal head. It also had two tails, the tip of each of them representing the monster's hands, with the left tail's tip being skeletal, and the right tail's tip being mechanical.

"Ooh, yes! You're a good boy, aren't you, Deltamon?" the stranger laughed, as Deltamon let out yet another thundering roar, actually coming from all three of its heads, as if the heads on its hands were sentient as well. "But you can be a lot stronger, too! You know how? By absorbing data! So go out, and nail any Digimon you see, and grow much stronger, my pet! Except… for _that_ one!"

As it heard its master's command, Deltamon roared again, before turning towards the city, which it began approaching, each step it took shaking the ground under it. "Heh… this is gonna be spectacular…" the stranger chuckled, as he folded his arms. "Soon enough, you'll be where you belong…"

"Hn?" Blinking, Rah looked around her, as her ears were perking up. "…did you guys hear something?" she inquired, as she glanced towards her traveling companions, who looked around them with clueless looks.

"…I can't hear anything…" Chi admitted, before looking down at the ground with a sad look. "…I hope my hearing isn't going bad…"

"Of course it isn't, Chi!" Hime shot in, as she quickly picked up and hugged Chi. "Your hearing is as good as ever! Though… I have to say, I couldn't hear anything, either."

"Neither could I." Eddy nodded, as he looked back at his Digivice screen. After defeating Harpymon and clearing up the misunderstanding, Eddy and Hime had gotten permission from the Armor Digimon to scan her, adding another set of data to their imprinting arsenal. "…I wonder if Sayoko and Kata have more variation in their data collection."

"Knowing Sayoko, I'd say she has more than me." Hime mused. "As for Kata… well, he's a thinker, so he'd think of some way he could use the imprinting feature strategically."

"Speaking of, where do you think we'll find them?" Eddy asked, as he glanced at Hime. "I hope that we can find Sayoko at her place, but where Kata could be, I'm not sure of."

"You shouldn't ask me about that." Hime replied with a mild shrug. "Still, I'm sure we'll find them, regardless. It's bound to happen, right?"

"…yeah… I guess…" Chi uttered, as she looked ahead of them. Just then, her eyes widened. "…Hime! Something's coming!"

"Yes…" Rah uttered, as she snarled. "...get ready!"

In that instant, rocketing out of the sand was a dolphin-like creature, who had a scar running across his face. "There's a few tasty morsels!" he said, as he grinned wickedly.

"Dolphmon!" Rah called, as she glanced at Eddy and Hime. "Prepare the Digi-Imprints; a Champion-level is going to need a little extra firepower from both of us!"

"I still can't believe that we're going with that name…" Eddy muttered, before looking at Dolphmon. "…and isn't anyone going to comment on the fact that _a dolphin just leapt right out of the sand?_"

"It's not the weirdest thing I've seen, to be honest." Hime said with a shrug. "I've seen a marionette with a hammer fight against a metal monkey. That tops desert dolphins any day."

"I don't recall which series that was from…" Eddy grumbled, before rubbing his temples. "…but really, that doesn't exactly matter, when a dolphin just jumped out of the sand, when it needs water to survive."

"Technically, seeing as it's a Digimon, would it need water at all?" Hime noted, as she tilted her head.

"Still, when I see a dolphin, I don't expect to see it popping out from a desert." Eddy began, as he looked at Hime with a look of disdain. "If it had been a scorpion, sure, it can pop out of a desert. But that is so obviously a dolphin, not a scorpion."

"But I read someplace that Dolphmon _can_ Digivolve into Scorpiomon, which is a Digimon who usually spends time in deserts." Hime continued. "Maybe it's just training for becoming a Scorpiomon, instead of a Divermon."

"But why would a dolphin turn into a scorpion?" Eddy said, before he realized something. "Wait, I forgot… this is a franchise where a koala can turn into a wolf, if you train it properly enough. My mistake." he muttered.

"AREN'T YOU TWO PAYING ANY ATTENTION?" both Rah and the Dolphmon snapped, as they glared at Eddy and Hime with gritted teeth.

"Ah… don't yell, please…" Chi uttered, as she looked fearfully at Rah.

"Tsch… makin' fun of me, are ya?" the Dolphmon growled, as he reeled his head back. "Shaking Pulse!" he shouted, before firing a sonic wave at the group.

"Sh- RetriBark!" Quickly, Rah let out a loud roar, which unleashed another sonic wave that instantly collided with Dolphmon's sonic wave, causing both of them to explode against each other, creating a cloud of dust that clouded everyone's field of vision.

"Kah… a sonic attack of your own, eh?" Dolphmon uttered, before grinning. "Well, a Rookie can't hold up against a Champion! Time to-" Before he could finish his sentence, however, something slammed right into the side of his face, sending him rocketing away from the scene, right into a building close to them.

"What was that?" Hime uttered once she heard the sound of a wall being torn down, just as the dust began fading. "…hn?"

As it turned out, who stood where Dolphmon once had been, was a tall, muscular man with short, messy black hair, who wore a pink Hawaii-shirt and black jeans, and wrapped around both of his hands were a pair of brass knuckles. Perched on the man's left shoulder was a small, pig-like creature (only without the snout), with a purple upper half, which included a pair of wings. Once the dust fully faded away, the man glanced at the group. "…are you all safe?" he uttered.

"…did…" Rah uttered in an astounded tone, as she looked at the man and the Digimon on his shoulder. "…did he just punch a Champion-level into a building?"

"…he has a Tsukaimon for a partner…" Chi uttered nervously. "…is he a bad man?"

"Oh, he's anything but bad." Eddy said in a relieved tone, as he grinned. "It's nice to see you again, Kata."

"…and then, the Dolphmon popped out of the sand, and you knocked it into a building." At the moment, the group had taken a break, with the three Digimon eating some chips and crackers that Kata had brought along, while Eddy and Hime had been informing Kata of what they had gone through before they met up with him.

"…I see…" Kata muttered, as he leant against a building, whilst looking at Hime and Eddy. "Well, today hasn't been too eventful on my line. Uta and I have for the most part been looking for other humans, but found nothing but other Digimon."

"Really?" Eddy noted, as he tilted his head. "Because back when we met Hime, there was this guy who showed up… he called himself Kizoku."

"Said that he was from Adachi, and that he was looking for his sister…" Hime added, as she folded her arms. "Though… after he showed up, that Harpymon attacked…"

"…hm." Kata hummed, before he folded his arms. "Well, I can't say for sure what triggered her to fight you… but if it was this Kizoku, we should all be careful." Then, he looked at the Tsukaimon. "Isn't that right, Uta?"

"Y'know what I think?" Uta said, as he swallowed what he currently had in his mouth, before flying up to Kata, landing on his shoulders. "I say we just go find that guy and pound him for info! If he knows something, we gotta figure out what it is!"

"But we can't just beat him up, now, can we?" Kata noted, as he looked up at the sky. "Besides, he could be anywhere, and if we're going to find Sayoko, we can't waste much time." Then, he recalled something, before looking down at Eddy. "Oh, yeah, I just remembered… is Lira at home by herself?"

"…I think so…" Eddy muttered, as he tilted his head. "She shouldn't be in too much trouble, though; she's a smart girl, so she won't open the door for strangers. I just hope that she found the wares that Boss brought over to her…"

"I do wonder where Boss went after completing that mission you sent him on…" Rah muttered, as she looked at Eddy.

"Well, we can focus on finding that out after we find Sayoko." Eddy noted, as he yawned. "After that, we'll head back to my place; that can be our headquarters until we can figure out how to solve this mess."

"…oh, yeah! Kata, I got to ask you something!" Hime suddenly said, as she looked up at Kata. "You have your Digivice with you, right?"

"Of course." Kata nodded, as he took out a dark-green Digivice from his pocket, before handing it to Hime. "You're thinking about data exchange, right?"

"Right." Hime nodded, as she took out her own Digivice, holding the two against each other. "Eddy, take out your own; it couldn't hurt to have extra data on your hands." As she said that, two beams shot from the Digivices, transferring data to and from each device.

Once she was done, she handed Kata's Digivice over to Eddy, who repeated the process with his own Digivice. When the process was done, he saw what new data he had acquired for his Digivice; along with Uta, there were pixilated versions of Biyomon, Palmon and Gomamon on his screen. "…that's it?" he inquired.

"…yep." Kata nodded. "Though… why would you ask something like that? I thought that you-"

"Once again, I've just grown out of it." Eddy quickly replied, as he handed Kata back his Digivice; he knew fully well what the question was going to be. "Well, our main priority at the moment is finding Sayoko. After that, we need to find out how this happened to Shibuya, and how we're going to reverse this."

"'ey, since when did _you_ get to be in charge?" Uta suddenly said, as he glanced at Eddy. "Kata's the smartest of us, so he should be the one in charge!"

"Not necessarily." Kata said matter-of-factly, as he glanced at Uta. "In all of the Digimon series, the smartest of the group never was the leader; in fact, for the most part, even the biggest idiot of the group was in charge."

"Yeah, it's probably best not to toy with tradition." Hime noted, before glancing at Eddy. "He can be the leader, for now; we get to crash at his place, after all."

"…did you just call me an idiot?" Eddy uttered dryly, as he looked at Kata and Hime with a flat expression. "Well… at least we won't have to quarrel about who the leader is going to be…"

"KYAAAAAHHH!" In that instant, they heard a woman scream, which made everyone glance to their left. As it turned out, a woman with long, silvery hair and a black dress was being chased down by a round, armored Digimon who wore a thick, leather vest, and was wielding two foil swords. "Get away from me, you monster!" the woman shrieked.

"A Gladimon!" Rah uttered, as she observed the Digimon. "Tsch… we need to help that woman!"

"Right!" Eddy said, as he pulled out his Digivice. "Everyone, get ready to-" Just then, Kata ran right towards the Gladimon, passing right by the woman. "…fight?"

Before the Gladimon could respond to this, Kata slipped on his brass knuckles, before fiercely slamming his right fist into the Gladimon's face, cracking the Digimon's helmet, while also sending him skidding back. "…ma'am." Kata uttered, as he didn't take his eyes off the Gladimon. "You're alright?"

"…ah… yes…" the woman uttered, as she looked at the Gladimon, who was just recovering. "…thank you for saving me. I'm Heimin. What is your name?"

"…Katatsu Hashikoi." Kata replied simply. "Please take cover, ma'am; we'll handle this Digimon."

"…y-yes…" Heimin uttered, as she bowed down to Kata. "Thank you so much!" she said, before she continued to run away.

"…did…" Rah uttered, as she looked at Kata in awe. "…did he cause a Gladimon's armor to crack in a single punch?"

"That's Kata for you; the smartest strongman in Shibuya that I know." Eddy noted, as he brought out his club. "Kata, we'll cover you!"

"So don't fret!" Hime shot in, as she took out her microphone, ready to release the cord from it.

"…do you realize what you've done, my good man?" Gladimon uttered, as he pointed one of his swords at Kata. "That woman is dangerous, and you let her go!"

"I beg to differ." Kata replied in a cool tone, just as Uta landed on his shoulder. "As a Digimon, and a Champion-level to boot, you are much more dangerous than that woman could ever hope to be." Then, he cracked his neck. "Now… do you intend to make this difficult for yourself?"

"…you shouldn't take of making things difficult." Gladimon uttered, as he cracked his neck. "Now, prepare yourselves! Gladimon, Digivolve to…" As he said those words, his body began glowing, before his entire body changed. When the glow vanished, there stood a massive, armored Digimon towering above Kata, as he weighed a massive Zweihänder on his left shoulder. On his back, a large, golden shield hung, and placed against his hips were two smaller claymores. "…Knightmon!"

"Aah! He Digivolved!" Hime uttered, as she looked at the Ultimate Digimon in astonishment. "And on his own accord, too!"

"Tsch… this is going to be tough…" Eddy muttered, as he glanced at Kata. "We'll help you-"

"No…" Kata muttered, as he slammed his fists against each other, just as Uta took off, flying up towards a building behind Knightmon. "…if I'm not mistaken… I'll win this battle."

"…you're confident." the Knightmon uttered, before he slammed the massive Zweihänder down point-first into the ground. "Very well; I'll accept your challenge, sir! I shall give you three minutes to try and harm me, and I will not retaliate! But can you break through my Chrome Digizoid armor?"

"…I can try." Saying that, Kata rushed right at Knightmon, before throwing a punch aimed directly at the knight's torso. However, as expected, the armor didn't even budge. "…hm."

"What's wrong?" Eddy uttered, as he glanced down at Rah. "Why didn't that punch cause Knightmon's armor to crack?"

"While a Gladimon's armor is made from iron or steel…" Rah began, as she closed her eyes. "…a Knightmon's armor is made from Chrome Digizoid; the toughest metal one can find in the Digital World. It is said to be impossible to pierce through."

"There are different variants of that metal, of course…" Hime began, as she folded her arms. "…some variants can boost the user's strength, or even speed during battle. However, he's just got the standard suit of Chrome Digizoid armor."

"…then let me ask a question…" Eddy uttered, before inhaling. "_WHY ARE WE LETTING KATA FIGHT AGAINST A MONSTER WHO WEARS A SUIT OF ARMOR THAT KATA CAN'T PIERCE THROUGH?"_ he suddenly yelled.

"Don't yell." Kata said calmly, as he retracted his fist, while looking up at Knightmon. "I'm trying to think." Then, he quickly stepped around Knightmon, before throwing a punch at his side, but like before, it yielded no result.

"I don't see what you're hoping to accomplish." Knightmon uttered, before sighing. "Your punches are strong, but against this armor, they are rendered powerless!"

"There is no armor without a weak spot." Kata replied, as he kept punching at different spots on Knightmon's armor. "Once I find it, the battle is mine."

"Try as you might, but you will not succeed!" Knightmon scoffed, before he closed his eyes, ignoring the numerous punches Kata threw at his body. "No one has broken through this armor yet!"

"Tsch…" Eddy uttered, as he glanced at Rah. "Is there nothing that can break through that kind of metal?"

"Well… if you deal a strong enough attack, you might be able to break through the armor." Rah noted, before she closed her eyes. "But I have a feeling that Kata is just going to break his fingers before he can break through it…"

"…actually, if you attack Chrome Digizoid with something else made out of Chrome Digizoid…" Hime uttered, as she rubbed her chin. "…let's see what Kata thinks of."

Still, Kata kept attacking Knightmon relentlessly, throwing punches at the Digimon without the slightest bit of delay. In spite of that, however, Knightmon remained undaunted, as the attacks still left no impact on the Ultimate-level. "…three minutes have passed. Are you done, now?"

"Not yet." In that instant, Kata threw a punch at Knightmon's back, but the blow was absorbed by the shield hanging on the Digimon's back. Surprisingly enough, however, the punch managed to dent the shield. "…interesting… your shield is not made from Chrome Digizoid, is it?"

"…it is not." Knightmon conceded, before quickly turning to face Kata, his Zweihänder raised high above his head. "But now, the fight ends! Berserk Sword!" he yelled, before furiously swinging the sword down on Kata, who just managed to roll away from it; the moment the sword struck the ground, however, it caused a tremor to rock the ground around them.

"Aah!" Chi cried, as she quickly latched onto Hime, looking at Kata and Knightmon. "That was a heavy blow…"

"No kidding." Hime uttered. "That Berserk Sword probably weighs more than a ton… and even with the Chrome Digizoid armor, Knightmon can wield it one-handed, without breaking a sweat."

"Now _that's _an Ultimate Digimon…" Eddy uttered. "…but why isn't Uta helping Kata out?"

"…do you see the power that I possess?" Knightmon uttered, as he lifted his sword off the ground, before looking towards Kata, who had gotten back on his feet. "As tenacious as you are, you cannot pass my defense…" As he spoke, he removed his shield from his back, still holding the Berserk Sword in his right hand, while wielding the shield in his left. "…and if you can't even do that, you have no hope of victory!"

"…true…" Kata uttered, as he cracked his neck. "…the problem is your armor. Even with your shield out of the way, I need Chrome Digizoid to smash the armor." Then, he raised his own Digivice into the air, just as it gave out a glow. "But first, I'll need some reinforcements. Uta, come on down!"

"'bout time, Kata!" Uta chimed in from high up above the group, as his body began glowing and changing. "Tsukaimon, Digivolve to…" Once the glow changed, the pig-like critter no longer flew in the air; he had been replaced by a four-winged, black demon of a dragon, its four, red eyes gleaming with bloodlust, which was somehow reflected off its long, red claws. "…Devidramon!"

"A Devidramon!" Rah uttered in surprise. "A monster of that caliber could match even an Ultimate in a battle!"

"But not even its claws can penetrate Chrome Digizoid…" Hime uttered, as she looked up at the black dragon Uta had turned into. "…hold the phone… don't tell me that he's…"

"Now, Uta, get ready for a heavy lift!" Kata called, as he quickly aimed his Digivice at Uta. "Digi-Imprint! Data: Zudomon!" As he called that, a beam shot out at the dragon, hitting it in a manner of seconds. No sooner had he done that, when a large spark of electricity began forming within Uta's right hand, eventually forming into a large hammer.

"…so that's what he was planning…" Hime uttered. "Zudomon's hammer _is_ made from Chrome Digizoid! How long did he plan for that?"

"…so you plan to strike me with that?" Knightmon scoffed, before he raised his shield, glaring at Uta. "Even if my shield won't survive the attack, it'll give me plenty of time to counter your strategy, sir!"

"Who said that Uta was going to attack you first?" The moment Knightmon raised his shield, Kata immediately ran towards Knightmon, before leaping up into the air, raising one of his fists. "I was waiting for you to raise your shield all along!" Then, before Knightmon could hope to realize what Kata had planned, he slammed his fist down onto the golden shield, making it split directly in two pieces, both of them falling to the ground.

"…my shield!" Knightmon uttered in shock, just as Kata landed on the ground. "…oh, no… Master Oda isn't going to be pleased when he sees this!"

"You've got worse things to worry about, bucko!" Uta laughed, as he swooped down towards Knightmon, raising the hammer in his right hand. "Hammer Boomerang!" he yelled, before hurling the hammer down towards Knightmon.

Still in shock over the fact that his shield had been snapped in half, Knightmon didn't get an opportunity to evade the hammer, as it struck his abdomen directly, creating a massive crack in his armor. "AGH!" he cried out, as the blow sent him skidding several feet back.

"Now, to finish it." Kata uttered, as he reeled his fist back, before rushing right at Knightmon, who was still trying to recover. "Good fight… but ultimately, I won."

"Muramasa!" Hearing that female voice, Kata suddenly stopped, as the group looked up in the air, where they could see Harpymon fly over them. "Stay away from him!" she called, before she quickly landed next to Knightmon, placing one of her wings on his shoulder. "Are you alright, Muramasa?"

"…Karura?" Muramasa uttered, as he looked at Harpymon with a bewildered look. "…you're here, as well? I thought you were with Master Oda…"

"That's where I thought you were…" Karura muttered, before she noticed Eddy, Hime and their Digimon. "…so, we meet again."

"…Harpymon…" Eddy uttered, before he suddenly realized that the Knightmon probably was a close friend of hers. "Eh- it was a misunderstanding, I swear! Rah, go fix him up, on the double?"

"Am I being relegated to the doctor around here…?" Rah uttered, before she quickly approached Muramasa, placing a paw on him. "Cure Liquor!" she said, as a glow surrounded her paw, eliminating the wounds that Knightmon could have suffered; his armor, however, remained cracked. "…too bad that it only works for injuries…"

"…it's nothing; I can rebuild it." Muramasa uttered, before he stood up, looking at Eddy. "You're acquaintances of Karura? Why didn't you say so?"

"…well, to be honest, she never gave us a name…" Chi uttered sheepishly.

"…but I suppose you could call us acquaintances… even though we didn't meet under the friendliest circumstances." Eddy continued, as he rubbed the back of his neck, with a sheepish grin on his face.

"…I see…" Muramasa mused, before he glanced at Karura. "…but if you're here… does that mean that Master Oda is here, too?"

"I'm not sure…" Karura uttered, before she folded her wings. "He did tell me to search for you after you went missing… but while I looked for you, I sensed an evil presence in a different part of this place."

"…are you serious?" Muramasa said, as he got on his feet. "I felt something like that, too! It came from a woman wearing black!"

"…woman wearing black?" Kata uttered in a surprised tone. "…you don't mean Heimin, do you? The woman you chased?"

"Exactly." Muramasa nodded, before he looked at Kata. "And thanks to you, I lost her."

"Well…" Hime began, as she folded her arms. "…to be fair, it _did_ seem like you were just chasing her around for no good reason."

"Yeah! Kata wouldn't have attacked ya, if ya just told us that the woman could've been evil!" Uta chimed in, as he landed close to Kata, looking down at Kurara and Muramasa.

"…so, both Heimin and Kizoku…" Rah uttered, as she looked up at the sky. "…just who are they…?"

A good distance from that scene, Heimin stopped running, as she entered an alley, whilst looking utterly flustered. "Ugh… I hate putting on a show like that… that Gladimon nearly blew my cover!"

"Having some trouble, dear sister?" a male voice chuckled, which made Heimin look up. As it turned out, Kizoku stood before her, grinning viciously. "You must have some bad luck." At that point, a swarm of bats surrounded him, before eventually flying away from him, showing a few changes; his skin had paled considerably, and a pair of fangs jutted out from his teeth. His nobleman's clothes had gotten puffy shoulders with red bats sown onto the cloth, big boots with a tin skull and a tin bat on them, a massively large cloak with a ridiculously large collar, and a gold bat which he used as a brooch. This was Kizoku's true form; Myotismon.

"…and you didn't?" In that instant, a swarm of bats engulfed Heimin as well, and when they flew away, she had changed as well. Like Kizoku, her skin had become extremely pale, though she now wore a skin-tight leather outfit that also covered her head (with the sole exception of the mouth), with stitches and demonic faces scattered all over the outfit. Chains wrapped around her body, and while part of her leather outfit had become a pair of wing-like appendages, from her neck, the outfit stretched out to a small, ghostly creature, which waved to Kizoku. This was Heimin's true form; LadyDevimon.

"I seemed to have more luck than you; I didn't get chased by any Champions while in disguise." Kizoku said with a sneer, before he looked up at the sky; still concealed by the large, white dome, giving the illusion of sunlight. "…this is wonderful… with the accursed sun blocked out, my power is always at its peak."

"So, will it take long before we move to full-scale, my dear brother?" Heimin uttered, as she slowly approached Kizoku, who glanced in her direction.

"We will require more data…" Kizoku said, as he folded his arms. "…and I know just where we can claim that data. All we need is to wait until the right moment…"

"Pah… damn human…" Floating alone in a deserted street was Dolphmon; the same one who Kata launched into a building earlier. "If he hadn't shown up, I could've gotten me some food… oh, well; might as well see if there's any weaklings wandering about."

At that point, he heard a growl from behind him. "…hn? The hell is-" he began, as he glanced behind him, only to widen his eyes in shock; looming over him was a massive monster, with two additional heads on each arm.

"…**fooooood…**" the monster uttered from all three of its heads, as the metallic head on its right arm began baring its teeth, looking hungrily at the Dolphmon.

"…a… Deltamon?" Dolphmon uttered in complete and utter fear, as he quickly dove down into the sand. _I gotta get away… I can't let 'im-_

Sadly, his efforts went to complete waste, as Deltamon shot its right head down into the sand, its mouth wide open, as it bit down, taking a good chunk of the earth within its mouth. However, it had no regard for taste; what it wanted was within the earth, namely the Dolphmon which the monster slowly, but surely, crushed into nothing but pure data, which was absorbed by the monster, before it continued on its way, looking for more data to consume…


End file.
